My father loved Pakistan. He graduated from the 2nd IMA course at the Royal Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun, and upon partition, chose Pakistan. He had the unique distinction of being one of the very few gunner officers who have commanded both Field and Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigades. He also served in the ISI, during which he exposed the infamous Agartala conspiracy plot to dismember Pakistan. Even after the unfortunate break up of Pakistan in 1971, my father chose to stay in Pakistan. He then raised the 4th Independent Anti-Aircraft Brigade Group Artillery in Multan. He commanded this formation until he retired from the Pakistan Army.

After retirement he moved to Bangladesh, to be with his brothers and family, as they needed him there.

May God Bless Pakistan.

Chris Alam
2384 New Holland Pike
Lancaster
PA 17601,
USA

Letter to Editor,

The picture is not murky

Sir,

I refer to the murky picture painted by M. Ziauddin in dateline Islamabad (Dawn-November 8th, '99). Instead of falling into ifs and buts and raising a questionable question as to why the flight arriving from Colombo-PK 305 on October 12th, 1999 with the Chief of the Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf on board waste its time and fuel in verbal altercation with the Karachi Airport Control Tower and Captain Sarwat Hussain did not land at Drigh Road or Masroor airfield. The answer is quite simple, when the flight entered Karachi air space it was told that Karachi Airport is closed indefinitely and he should proceed to Nawabshah or any other airfield in any neighbouring country.

At the same time an Emirates Airline flight had taken off which heard this conversation between PIA captain and the Karachi airport control tower and the Emirate flight captain intervened as to what has gone wrong? As he has just taken off from Karachi. He was told to mind his own business by Airport control tower. Mr. Ziauddin may be aware that Prime Minister's Boeing Aircraft, which is maintained by the Pakistan Air Force, was also diverted to Nawabshah instead of landing this PAF maintained plane at Drigh Road or Masroor. All this confusion was made worse confounded when the voice GOC Karachi boomed into the flight cockpit 'clear to land', the General in the control tower had to identify himself before the flight captain decided to land and landed. Tadbeer Kunad Banda, Taqdeer Zanad Khanda meaning man proposes, God disposes.

This is the last chance for Pakistan to survive as a sovereign country and the nation's demand is to bring the traitors to the dock and try for high treason and hang them publicly as Turkey did to Adnan Mendris.

Yours etc.,

Ali Ashraf Khan
93/2, 13th Street, DHA,
Karachi / Pakistan
November 9th, 1999

FAO Ikram-ul-Majeed Sehgal, Publisher & Managing Editor
Defence Journal Pakistan

Dear Mr. Sehgal,

I'm an Aerospace Engineer who specialises in Rocket Engine Design and Development but have a keen interest in the factors which led to the creation of my country, Bangladesh.

I read, with great interest, your online edition of the Defence Journal. I find it an invaluable source of information of the 1971 conflict, in particular from the (West) Pakistani perspective. I enclose a list of books I've collected to date followed by those I still seek. The file is in Microsoft Word 97 format. I seek titles, for example, such as Brig. Z. A. Khan's 'The Way it Was' and Maj. Gen. Tajammul Hussein Malik's 'The Story of My Struggle' which have been mentioned in the past few issues of your esteemed Journal. I've tried internet searches for these books and have no luck in procuring them and hope that your readers may be able to assist.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could include this list in your Journal together with my personal particulars which I include at the foot of this page.

Yours sincerely,

Abdul M. Ismail
100 Greenhill Road
Mossley Hill
Liverpool L18 7HN
abdul-m.ismail@virgin.net

PAKISTANI AUTHORS

Dear General Musharraf,
Assalam-o-Alaikum.

Last month Allah in His Wisdom and Mercy surprised the outside world and Pakistanis alike at the turn of events. To my mind, Allah has given you an opportunity, 'So please do not miss it.' I had spoken similar words at a seminar for General Zia in 1980. At that time the people had felt, rightly or wrongly, that there was a sniff of American aroma in his take-over. However, in your case God has dropped the responsibility directly into the Army's lap. Being the leader of the Army, it is now up to you to treat 'this handing over' as a trust and honor it accordingly.

Two serious challenges now confront the Army. The spectre of people's wrath if they feel they have been let down. And, the carrot and stick policy of the west which is loathe to lose its influence at the cross roads of the world. To carry the people along, three actions are vital. First, accomplish one or two tasks only, which appear important to them and real Ehtesab that seems to be the most wanted. The Army must not fritter away its energies in trying to solve the whole malaise in one go. There are just too many problems to be tackled. These must be the responsibility of the people themselves through their elected but honest representatives. Not the ones like in the past that readily sold their souls to foreigners for selfish gains. Second, associate the public fully with the efforts of the Army by having Local Bodies' elections at the earliest opportunity. I fear that a failure of the Army to pick up their support quickly would give the crafty old politicians opportunity to wean them away to the detriment of national interests. Third, give the nation an aim and a goal to fight and live for. Today we are like flotsam; drifting aimlessly and enjoying no respect or regard amongst the comity of nations. This situation has to be rectified and the lost self-respect regained.

The carrot and stick policy of the west is designed to get us back into their fold. They want people returned, who think that national interests are tied to their own, or feel that without western connection and aid Pakistan will be unable to stand up to the threat from next door or survive economically. Both are great fallacies and show a weakness of mind, which have been responsible to get us into the pass we are in. God has provided you and the Army another chance to correct these patently wrong assumptions. In any case, the behaviour of the west, the Heads of Commonwealth and of India since Kargil and more particularly last month is a clear pointer where we rightly belong and where our true interests lie.

We cannot go against the forces of nature. Historically, we have been part of Central Asia for a much longer period than of South Asia. Even in the 6th c BC, as Persians, we participated in campaigns in Eastern Europe. Early Muslim rulers merely extended Central Asian domination into the plains of Hindustan. The Mughals, from Central Asia too like the earlier migrants of that area, merely surged into Dakhan (South) which was not a part of Hindustan. Till the last, but for the exception of Emperor Akbar, these rulers remained Central Asian at heart and true to their culture. It must be appreciated that South Asia had never been a political entity except under Asoka, Chander Gupta, the Mughals and the British. Culturally and religiously, too, there has never been any singularity (in this vast region). The British, like Akbar, tried to develop some common values between the different peoples inhabiting (British) India but failed. Even today, Bharat after half a century of independence, is still trying to find a solution to this problem of acute diversity that pervades all through that land.

Under these circumstances for Pakistan to survive and flourish, it must give up false premises left behind by the last colonial ruler and lay its moorings where it rightly belongs. It is still not too late to do so. Once we have done that, we will immediately find new and much more rewarding vistas opening up for the country, economically as well as politically. There will be initial teething troubles, some of which will very severely test our resolve, but Insha Allah with unity, faith and determination the nation will come through.

Yours sincerely,
Vice Adm Iqbal F Quadir
PN (Retd)